Ivanka Trump claims she "barely" knew about Trump Moscow proposal
President Trump's daughter and top aide Ivanka Trump told ABC News Thursday she "barely" knew about the proposed Trump Tower Moscow deal the Trump Organization considered while her father was running for president.
"Literally almost nothing," Ivanka Trump said about her knowledge of the possible deal, which Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani says was under consideration up until Donald Trump's election. "We were an active business."
"There was never a binding contract," Ivanka Trump added. "I never talked to the -- with a third party outside of the organization about it," the elder Trump daughter said. "It was one of -- I mean we could have had 40 or 50 deals like that, that were floating around, that somebody was looking at. Nobody visited it to see if it was worth our time. So this was not exactly like an advanced project."
The Trump daughter also claimed she's "really not" concerned about anyone close to her getting in trouble with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, despite the number of her father's associates who have been charged or convicted as a result of that probe.
The Trump Tower Moscow project has come into question given that the Trump Organization was pursuing the business possibility during Mr. Trump's presidential campaign. Last year, Russian-born businessman Felix Sater said he proposed giving a $50 million penthouse to Russian President Vladimir Putin to entice other buyers in the proposed Trump Tower Moscow project.
Sater told BuzzFeed News that he and former longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen — who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress over the proposed Moscow deal — thought giving the penthouse to Putin would encourage other Russian buyers to purchase their own units in the building. Sater told BuzzFeed the Putin penthouse was his idea. An attorney for Sater confirmed to CBS News Sater was quoted accurately.
"My idea was to give a $50 million penthouse to Putin and charge $250 million more for the rest of the units. All the oligarchs would line up to live in the same building as Putin," Felix told BuzzFeed.
Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee Friday, told CBS News correspondent Paula Reid last month that the Mueller investigation is near its end, but did not elaborate.
